opposable thumbs

I made a little gift for my friends at the Opposable Thumbs Podcast. They take on a creative challenge every two weeks and then talk about it with some tool recommendations thrown in. I’m enjoying it a lot. I’m particularly fond of their code of conduct because it aims to create an inclusive space, which can be hard to do among geeky people who enjoy talking about obscure subjects. I’m copying it here for future reference:

Our podcast is dedicated to providing a harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of race, gender, age, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, knowledge of presented subject matter, or religion (or lack thereof). We do not tolerate harassment in any form. Our overall belief is that mutual respect and voices from all walks of life must be heard to create a balanced society. We want our community to be more diverse…whatever your background, we welcome you. We actively support an inclusive environment, and we want you to be a part of it.

Although I wasn’t trying to join their first challenge (paper clips and and 2×4 lumber) this thing sort of came out while tinkering aimlessly at my desk. I had improvised the shape out of a scrap on my bandsaw while trying out the technique that Jimmy Diresta uses in this video (similar to the well know bandsaw reindeer that Matthias Wandel takes to the next level here) and it seemed like a nice way to hold a hand-cranked contraption while being vaguely thumb shaped. I’ve been trying to make paper clip gears with various degrees of success since I saw this video of Arthur Ganson making wire gears and I made one for this project but it didn’t quite fit the way I wanted, and it wasn’t perfectly centered, so settled with the offset orbiting hands design.